3 Indian soldiers killed in Kashmir

Indian soldiers killed after militants attack army base in Indian-held Kashmir

Asia-Pacific

29 Kasım 2016 Salı 17:42

World Bulletin / News Desk

Three Indian soldiers, including an officer, were killed in a suspected militant attack on an army base in Indian-held Kashmir on Tuesday.

According to the Indian Army, the gun battle started around 5.30 a.m. when suspected militants entered the Army 16 corps headquarters in the Nagrota area.

"The gun battle started at dawn and it is a major attack. We can't comment yet whether the militants have been killed but the operation is still going on," Lt. Col. Manish Mehta told Anadolu Agency.

Mehta also refused to comment on army casualties but sources in the army, who cannot be named as they are not allowed to speak to the media, said three Indian soldiers had been killed.

This is the second major attack on an Indian military base in the disputed Himalayan region since September, when 19 Indian soldiers were killed in an attack on the Army headquarters in the Uri area of Kashmir.

The Indian government blamed Pakistan for the Uri attack but Pakistan has denied all allegations, calling the attack an inside job by India to divert attention from alleged human right violations in Indian-held Kashmir.

More than 100 Kashmiri civilians have been shot dead by Indian forces and thousands injured during protests against Indian rule that began in July.

Kashmir, a Muslim-majority Himalayan region, is held by India and Pakistan in parts and claimed by both in full.

The two countries have fought three wars -- in 1948, 1965 and 1971 -- since they were partitioned in 1947, two of which were fought over Kashmir.

Since 1989, Kashmiri resistance groups in the region have been fighting against Indian rule for independence or for unification with neighboring Pakistan.

More than 70,000 Kashmiris have been killed so far in the violence, most of them by Indian forces. India maintains over half a million soldiers in the region.